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MESSAGE 


OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES 

ON 

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ECONOMY 

AND EFFICIENCY IN THE 
GOVERNMENT 
SERVICE 


COMMUNICATED TO THE TWO HOUSES 
OF CONGRESS, APRIL 4, 1912 



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D. OF D. 
JUN IS 1913 









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MESSAGE 


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To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

On the 17th of January last I sent a message to the Congress 
describing the work of the commission appointed by me under 
authority of the acts of June 25, 1910, and March 3, 1911, grant¬ 
ing appropriations to enable me to inquire 4nto the methods 
of transacting the public business of the various executive 
departments and other governmental establishments, and to 
make report as to improved efficiency and greater economy 
to be obtained in the expenditure of money for the mainte¬ 
nance of the Government. By way of illustrating the utility 
of the commission, and the work which they were engaged 
upon, I referred to a number of reports which they had filed, 
recommending changes in organization of the departments and 
bureaus of the Government, the avoidance of duplication of 
functions and services, and the installation of labor-saving 
devices and improved office methods. All of the recommenda¬ 
tions looked to savings of considerable amounts. With the 
message of February 5, 1912, I transmitted to the Congress the 
reports on the centralization of distribution of Government 
documents, on the use of window envelopes, and on the use of 
a photographic process for copying records. 

A number of the reports of the commission had not then 
been commented on by the heads of the departments that 
would be affected by the changes recommended, and therefore 
I did not feel justified at that time in recommending to the 
Congress the statutory amendments necessary to carry out the 
recommendations of the commission. Since then, however, I 
have received the recommendations of the heads of depart¬ 
ments, and I transmit this message for the purpose of express¬ 
ing my approval of the changes recommended by the commis¬ 
sion and of laying before the Congress the reports prepared 
by the commission. 

LOCAL OFFICES SHOULD BE IN THE CLASSIFIED SERVICE. 

POST OFFICES. 

I have several times called attention to the advantages to be 
derived from placing in the classified service the local officers 
under the Departments of the Treasury, of the Post Office, of 

[ 3 ] 


36941—12 



4 


Justice, of the Interior, and of Commerce and Labor. In my 
message submitted to the Congress on Januaiw 17 I referred to 
the loss occasioned to the Government because of the fact that 
in many cases two persons are paid fomdoing work that could 
easily be done by one. In the meantime I have caused an 
inquiry to be made as to-*the amount in money of this loss. 
The results of this inquiry^ire that the loss amounts to at least 
$10,000,000 annually. - For example, it appears that a very sub¬ 
stantial economy would result from putting experienced and 
trained officers in charge of the first and second class post 
offices instead of selecting llie postmasters in accordance with 
the present practice. As the annual operating expenses of the 
first and second class offices aggregate the enormous sum of 
more than $80,000,000, undoubtedly if the postmasters of these 
offices were embraced in the classified service, and required 
to devote all .their time to the public service, the annual savings 
would eventually represent many millions of dollars. The 
saving in salaries alone, not Jaking into account any saving due 
to increased efficiency of Operation, would amount to about 
$4,500,000. At the present time the salaries of postmasters of 
the first and second class amount to $6,076,900, while the sal¬ 
aries of assistant postmasters of the same classes amount to 
$2,820,000. If the position of postmaster were placed in the 
classified service and those officers were given salaries equal to 
20 per cent more than the salaries now given to the assistant 
postmasters, the latter position being no longer required, there 
would be a saving in salaries to the Government of $4,512,900. 
In the case of postmasters at offices of the third class a large 
annual saving could be made. 

PENSION AGENCIES. 

An annual saving of nearly $62,000 could be made if the po¬ 
sition of pension agent were placed in the classified service, 
since the work now done by a pension agent at a salary of 
$4,000 and a chief clerk at a salary ranging between $1,400 
and $2,250 could easily be done by one person in the permanent 
classified service at a salary varying from $2,100 to $3,000. 
Greater economy and efficiency would result from the abolition 
of the pension agencies and from the adoption of a plan in ac¬ 
cordance with which pensions would be paid by the Pension 
Office in Washington. 

DISTRICT LAND OFFICES. 

What is true in the matter of payment of pensions is also 
true in the service under the General Land Office. The field 
service of this office could be more efficiently and economically 


5 


operated if it were provided by law that the office of receiver 
of district land offices be abolished and the duties transferred 
to the register, assisted by a bonded clerk, and the register 
placed in the classified service. It has several times been 
estimated that more than $200,000 would be saved annually 
and the efficiency of the service greatly increased by the adop¬ 
tion of such a plan. 

INTERNAL-REVENUE AND CUSTOMS OFFICES. 

Large expenditures are made for salaries of political ap¬ 
pointees in the internal-revenue and customs services. In both 
services a direct saving in salaries, and an indirect economy 
through increased efficiency, would follow a transfer of such 
offices to the classified service. 

OTHER LOCAL OFFICES. 

In the other field services the saving which would result from 
the classification of the local officers under the departments is 
not as marked or probably capable of as exact estimation as 
in those mentioned, but there is no doubt that substantial sav¬ 
ings would follow. It is not to be doubted that where no saving 
would result the classification of the local officers would in¬ 
crease the efficiency of the service. It would be desirable also 
to place all marshals, deputy marshals, and assistant attorneys 
in the classified service, although but little direct economy 
would result. Supervising inspectors in the Steamboat Inspec¬ 
tion Service and the members of the field service in the Bureau 
of Fisheries should be placed in the classified service. 

commission’s report on local offices. 

The report on methods of appointment submitted to me by 
the commission, which covers fully the subject of appointments 
by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Sen¬ 
ate, and recommends that various local officers, such as post¬ 
masters, collectors of internal revenue, etc., and heads of bu¬ 
reaus in the departmental service, be included in the classified 
service, is transmitted herewith (Appendix No. 1). The re¬ 
port and recommendations are approved by me. 

LEGISLATION NEEDED TO ESTABLISH THE MERIT SYSTEM. 

In the interest of an efficient and economical administration 
of the vast business of the Government, I urge the necessity for 
the inauguration of this important reform, and recommend that 
the necessary amendments be made to the laws governing ap- 


6 


pointments, such amendments to take effect not later than July 
1, 1913, so that there may be secured to the people the benefits 
to be derived from a conduct of their affairs by officers se¬ 
lected on a merit basis and devoting their time and talents 
solely to the duties of their offices. 

CONSOLIDATION OF LIGHTHOUSE AND LIFE-SAVING SERVICES. 

The commission’s report (Appendix No. 2) recommends that 
the Life-Saving Service of the Department of the Treasury be 
discontinued as a separate organization and that the mainte¬ 
nance and operation of the life-saving stations of the country 
be made one of the duties of the Bureau of Lighthouses of the 
Department of Commerce and Labor. I concur in this recom¬ 
mendation and urge that the necessary legislation for carrying 
it into effect be enacted. 

Both of these services are organized and maintained for the 
same general purpose—the protection of life and property 
endangered along the coasts and other navigable waters. Both 
maintain stations along the coast, which are located for the 
most part in close proximity. Both have substantially the same 
business problems to meet in locating, constructing, and main¬ 
taining these stations; in recruiting the personnel; in manufac¬ 
turing or purchasing equipment; in purchasing, housing in de¬ 
pots, and distributing supplies; in operating a field-inspection 
service; in maintaining telephonic and other means of commu¬ 
nication; in disbursing funds; in keeping proper books, of ac¬ 
counts; and in rendering reports showing financial and other 
transactions. The maintenance of two separate services, as at 
present, means a duplication of organization in respect to all of 
these operations. The recommendation of the commission does 
not contemplate any essential change in the work of the life¬ 
saving stations; it is for the transfer of the business manage¬ 
ment of these institutions to the Bureau of Lighthouses. That 
bureau being fully organized for the administration of stations 
of this character will be able to direct and manage these sta¬ 
tions with comparatively little addition to its present force and 
equipment. The commission estimates that, in addition to the 
advantage that will be obtained through having these two 
services operated by the same organization, a direct economy 
will be secured of at least $100,000 annually, and that the 
saving will greatly exceed this sum after the first year. 

REVENUE-CUTTER SERVICE. 

The report of the commission on the Bevenue-Cutter Service 
(Appendix No. 3) represents a detailed investigation of the 


7 


history, organization, and activities of this branch of the Gov¬ 
ernment service and its relations to other services. The con¬ 
clusion is reached that all of the duties now being performed 
by this service can be performed with equal efficiency by 
other services and that a great economy will result by having 
these duties so performed. The commission accordingly rec¬ 
ommends that the service be abolished as a distinct organiza¬ 
tion; that its equipment be distributed among other services 
requiring the use of marine craft; and that provision be made 
for the performance of the work now being done by it by such 
other services. 

With these fundamental recommendations of the commis¬ 
sion I am in full accord, and I recommend that the necessary 
legislation be enacted to put them into effect. 

At the present time the Revenue-Cutter Service is organized 
as a Naval Establishment. The country is, in effect, maintain¬ 
ing two navies, and is using one of these navies for the per¬ 
formance of duties of a civil character. The maintenance of 
two separate naval establishments entails unnecessary expense 
and is not in the interest of either efficiency or economy. In 
so far as the duties of the Revenue-Cutter Service are of a 
naval character, or are such as can readily be performed by 
the regular Naval Establishment, they should be performed by 
such establishment; in so far as they are of a purely civil char¬ 
acter, use should be made of services organized and conducted 
upon a civil basis. 

In respect to the distribution of the equipment and duties of 
the Revenue-Cutter Service among other branches of the Gov¬ 
ernment, the recommendation of the commission looks to the 
transfer to the Navy Department of the vessels which are 
adapted to deep-sea cruising and the discharge by the Naval 
Establishment of most of the duties now performed by the 
Revenue-Cutter Service upon the high seas. In memoranda 
submitted on the report of the commission, copies of which 
are submitted with such report, on the one hand the Secretary 
of the Navy raises the question as to whether these duties can 
be performed by the regular Naval Establishment without de¬ 
tracting from its military efficiency, while on the other hand 
the Secretary of Commerce and Labor raises the question 
whether certain of these duties can not be performed by the 
Lighthouse Service if that service is provided with vessels 
suitable for the purpose. 

In view of these suggestions I recommend that, in the enact¬ 
ment of legislation providing for the abolition of the Revenue- 
Cutter Service, provision be made for the transfer of all the 


8 


vessels and equipment of the Revenue-Gutter Service from the 
Treasury Department to the Department of Commerce and 
Labor; that the Secretary of Commerce and Labor be directed 
to assign such vessels and equipment to the Lighthouse Estab¬ 
lishment, Bureau of Fisheries, and other services under his 
jurisdiction requiring the use of vessels, as, in his judgment, is 
for the best interest of the public service, and that authority 
be given to him to turn over to the Navy such vessels as he 
may find, upon investigation, not to be required by his depart¬ 
ment and which by their character are fitted to serve as useful 
auxiliaries to the Naval Establishment. 

In thus recommending that the Revenue-Cutter Service as a 
separate establishment be abolished, I desire to make plain that 
such action does not carry with it the discontinuance of the 
rendering of any valuable and proper service now being ren¬ 
dered by that organization. On the contrary, I am persuaded 
that all such services will continue to be performed under the 
system recommended by me with equal or greater efficiency. 

It should be noted that the adoption of the recommendation 
here made will result in bringing under one general adminis¬ 
tration all of the work of the Government having to do with 
the protection of life and property at sea. This will result not 
only in greatly increased efficiency, but in a large saving. The 
Lighthouse Establishment is compelled by the nature of the 
work to maintain and operate a large fleet of Vessels and sup¬ 
plementary administrative divisions, depots, inspection serv¬ 
ices, etc., to attend to matters pertaining to their business 
management. It is thus fully prepared to take over and oper¬ 
ate the additional vessels that may be assigned to it and to 
perform the additional duties with which it may be intrusted 
at an added expense that will be small in comparison with 
that now entailed in maintaining an independent service on a 
military basis. 

A further benefit of no little importance that will also be 
secured will be that of relieving the Department of the Treas¬ 
ury of duties which are in no ways germane to the primary 
function of that department. 

THE CONSOLIDATION OF AUDITING OFFICES. 

The report upon the organization and methods of work of 
the accounting offices of the Treasury (Appendix No. 4) recom¬ 
mends that the offices of the six auditors be consolidated under 
one auditor, and that the auditors of customs accounts located 
at the principal ports, and known as naval officers, be made 


assistants to the auditors. An increase in the efficiency of the 
Treasury audit will be one result of the carrying out of these 
recommendations, and the saving of expense when the con¬ 
solidation has been fully completed will amount to at least 
$200,000 a year, based upon current appropriations. The pres¬ 
ent organization, under which six independent auditors are 
engaged in the one work of final audit of the Government ac¬ 
counts, is certainly one that can produce only diversity of prac¬ 
tice and procedure, inefficient use of personnel and equipment, 
and delay and uncertainty of requirements from which the 
public as well as officers of the Government must suffer. 

In my opinion a change in law to carry into effect these rec¬ 
ommendations of the commission, which have my approval, 
will be in the interest of the public service. 

THE RETURNS OFFICE. 

The report upon the “ Returns Office ” of the Department of 
the Interior (Appendix No. 5) recommends the abolition of 
that office and that provision for public inspection of Govern¬ 
ment contracts be made through the office of the auditors of 
the Treasury, in which offices the originals of all contracts are 
filed. It also recommends the substitution of a certificate for 
the affidavit required to be attached to the contracts of the 
Departments of War, the Navy, and the Interior, and an 
amendment of the statute which now requires all the contracts 
of those departments to be in writing. I transmit letters from 
the secretaries of the departments referred to, concurring in 
the conclusions and recommendations of the commission. I 
approve the report and commend it to the favorable consider¬ 
ation of the Congress. 

GOVERNMENT EXPENSES FOR TRAVEL. 

The report upon “ Travel expenditures ” of officers and em¬ 
ployees of the Government (Appendix No. 6) presents a view 
of existing conditions that can lead to but one conclusion—that 
under the existing laws, and regulations and practices pursuant 
thereto, the allowances for travel are as varied as there are ex¬ 
ecutive departments. The same classes of officers and em¬ 
ployees are receiving different rates of allowances, depending 
only upon the department or bureau in which they are em¬ 
ployed. Under similar conditions there should be uniformity. 
The report recommends that all allowances in the form of mile¬ 
age be discontinued and that actual cost of transportation be 
paid; that in lieu of payment of actual cost of other expenses, 
commonly known as subsistence, which would include lodging, 


10 


a scale of per diem allowances be established by the President 
for the several classes of officers and employees. It is also 
recommended by the commission that all accounts for reim¬ 
bursement of traveling expenses shall be certified as to correct¬ 
ness in lieu of the requirement of law in many cases that the 
verification be by affidavit. The latter procedure is trouble¬ 
some and expensive, and the penalty for a false certification is 
fully as valuable in its deterrent effect as the penalty for mak¬ 
ing a false affidavit. 

With the report are the comments of the War and the Navy 
Departments, made at my request. The report of the com¬ 
mission has my approval, and the suggestions therein for a 
change in the law on the subject are submitted with a request 
for action in accordance therewith. 

HANDLING AND FILING OF CORRESPONDENCE. 

The handling and filing of correspondence constitutes one 
of the business processes of the Government to which, as 
pointed out in my message of January 17, the commission has 
paid especial attention. The investigations of existing condi¬ 
tions have brought out clearly that, in many cases, present 
methods are inefficient and entail large, unnecessary costs. 
The features of present practices which stand out most promi¬ 
nently as entailing large, unnecessary labor and expense per¬ 
tain to the briefing, press-copying, and recording and indexing 
of communications. A statement has been prepared giving 
the results of an investigation of the salary cost entailed in 
performing these operations in the several departments at 
Washington. It is the opinion of the commission that the 
operations of briefing and press-copying letters can be entirely 
eliminated, and that the recording and indexing of incoming 
and outgoing letters can be reduced at least 50 per cent. 

Though the commission is making independent investiga¬ 
tions of methods followed in handling and filing correspond¬ 
ence in certain bureaus and services, the results of which will 
be embodied in reports describing such methods, pointing out 
wherein they are defective, and recommending changes to 
make them conform to the most approved practices, the gen¬ 
eral policy pursued is that of working in close cooperation with 
the departments and services through the means of joint com¬ 
mittees. To the end that these committees might all work as 
nearly as possible along uniform lines, and that the depart¬ 
ments and establishments might have before them the conclu¬ 
sions reached by the commission relative to fundamental prin¬ 
ciples and the best practices in respect to the performance of 


11 


this class of work, the commission has prepared, and I have 
sent to the heads of departments a memorandum setting forth 
the principles which should govern in the matter of handling 
and filing of correspondence. This memorandum also con¬ 
tains suggestions for the use of labor-saving devices in prepar¬ 
ing and mailing letters. I am transmitting herewith a copy of 
this memorandum (Appendix No. 7). 

On the basis of this memorandum active efforts are now being 
made in all of the departments for the improvement of the 
methods of handling and filing of correspondence. These 
efforts have resulted in radical changes in existing methods 
and the effecting of large economies. The flat-filing system has 
been substituted for the old cumbrous folded and indorse¬ 
ment system. Carbon copies of letters have been substituted 
for press copies. The briefing of documents has been entirely 
discontinued in a number of services, and in others the main¬ 
tenance of book records of incoming and outgoing communica¬ 
tions has been discontinued. The effort is being made to make 
correspondence files self-indexing, and thus avoid the necessity 
for making and using secondary finding devices. This work 
can only be intelligently prosecuted as the result of painstaking 
and detail investigation of the special conditions to be met in 
each particular service. Many months will, therefore, be 
required to carry out this work throughout the entire Govern¬ 
ment. It is of the utmost importance that the work should be 
prosecuted under a general supervision or direction such as is 
furnished by the present commission. 

DISTRIBUTION OF GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS. 

Attention is called to the report of the commission, trans¬ 
mitted to the Congress with my message of February 5, and to 
the supplementary statement sent herewith (Appendix No. 8) 
on the centralization of distribution of Government publica¬ 
tions. By adopting this recommendation it is conservatively 
estimated that $242,000 can be saved. This is exclusive of the 
saving which could be made by handling the congressional 
documents in the same manner. An account kept for 31 days 
with the volume of this business of handling congressional 
documents showed an average of 21 tons per day. These docu¬ 
ments were first taken from the Printing Office to the Capitol, 
then from the Capitol to the post office, then hauled back to 
the Union Station, the latter being but a short distance from 
the Printing Office. An up-to-date plant at the Printing Office 
which could handle all this would entail an increased capital 
outlay for permanent equipment of only about $75,000. The 


12 


recommendation for centralizing the distribution of documents 
from the departments, if acted on, will affect the appropria¬ 
tions of seven departments, five independent establishments, 
and the Washington post office. 

I may say in connection with this report and recommendation 
that the House of Representatives, in passing the agricultural 
appropriation bill for the fiscal year 1913, instead of reducing 
the cost of distributing Government publications in the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture by $137,000, has increased to the extent of 
$13,260 the amount appropriated for salaries for the Division of 
Publications over the appropriation for the current year. 

OUTLINES OF ORGANIZATION. 

The outlines of organization of the Government, which were 
transmitted with the message of January 17, have been sent 
to each of the departments, with a request that orders issue 
which will require that the outline be kept up to date (Appendix 
No. 9). This will not only make available at all times the infor¬ 
mation needed by Congress or the administration when called 
for, and assist materially in the preparation of estimates of 
appropriations, but will make unnecessary the publication of 
the official register, thereby saving approximately $45,000 for 
each issue. 

CONCLUSION. 

In submitting these reports, with recommendations, I will 
state that in my opinion each of the foregoing recommenda¬ 
tions, if acted on, will contribute largely to increase efficiency. 
Directly and indirectly the changes proposed will result in 
the saving of many millions of dollars of public funds. This 
will leave the Congress free to determine whether the amount 
thus saved shall be utilized to reduce taxation or to provide 
funds with which to extend activities already carried on and 
to enter on beneficial projects which otherwise could not be 
undertaken for lack of funds. 

Again I urge upon the Congress the desirability of providing 
whatever funds can be used effectively to carry forward with 
all possible vigor the work now well begun. The $200,000 re¬ 
quired for the prosecution of the inquiry during the ensuing 
year, and the $50,000 estimated for the publication of results, 
are inconsiderable in comparison with the economies which 
can be realized. 

The White House, April k , 1912 . 

O 


LftJe ’' 3 


Wm. H. Taft. 



































































































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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 







